[October is Breast Cancer awareness month, so CollegeCandy thought it was important to bring you all the information you need to protect yourself. Come back tomorrow for more important facts about prevention, therapy and other knowledge to keep you healthy.]

While breast cancer is uncommon in women under the age of 35, the risk of it increases as a woman grows older. There is also some evidence to suggest that young African American women are at greater risk for breast cancer than young Caucasian women. No matter who you are, you will be affected by breast cancer during the course of your life in one way or another.

Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself now.

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Mammography screening is the best available method to detect breast cancer, but due to the high levels of radiation, doctors don’t recommend them to people under the age of 40. Your next best bet? Clinical and self examination.

The American Cancer Society urges women in their 20s and 30s to have a clinical breast exam (CBE) as a part of their regular professional health exam. The most common signs of breast cancer are a lump in the breast, abnormal thickening of the breast, or a change in the shape or color of the breast. Keep in mind that finding a lump does not necessarily mean you have breast cancer. If you notice something abnormal, talk to your doctor ASAP. Read More »

After reading an article in The New York Times regarding the inequality of gender roles in the work place, I got to thinking. After having some corporate (and not so corporate…hellloo retail?!) jobs, I can see where Ms. Seligson (the author of the NYT article) comes from when she airs her frustration about the fact that women have progressed so much in the college and educational world, but when we get to the workforce, it seems like we take a few steps backwards.

From my personal experience, here’s how it goes: men are respected off the bat, women (especially young, attractive ones), need to earn it after due course at a company. Men also aren’t afraid to go after what they want; the article states that when men want a raise, they simply ask for it, but with women, we lack the courage and words to get what we want. Why is this?

I have had both male and female bosses and I will say this: women are threatened by other women. Many women, rather than lending a hand to a female colleague, go behind her back and undermine not only her authority, but her professional aptitude and capability. I had a female boss who once told me I only get dressed up for work because I feel like I need to prove something to everyone. Puh-lease woman. I dress nice because I dress nice — in and out of work (Fast forward to me quitting on the spot and telling said boss how unprofessional she was…talk about wanting to knock me down instead of help me rise!  Surprise, surprise, the woman is no longer with that company).

Girl against girl is the nature of the game and, while I feel like I am one of those individuals who is set apart from the social norm, I’m sure I fall victim to some of these behaviors.  But my biggest question is: WHY?! Read More »

Let’s just hope this stationary isn’t scratch and sniff….

Once thought a longshot, Republican Alaskan Senator Sarah Palin is now on a plane to potentially stand at McCain’s side. Also leavin’ on a jetplane is Mass’s Mormon Mitt Romney. Ohhhhhhh the tension is killing me, but we have received some great insights from interns that we know who work at some real publications.

If Obama had tapped (politically speaking) Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney would be the VP bid to try and match her fund-raising firepower. Since Joe Biden is in, the Republicans can now pick a female VP and look (and this is a direct quote), “progressive in the ever-changing political landscape where all citizens have equal representation and a global voice.” Gosh, I wish I could write pretty like that. Read More »

I guess Boston commuters have never seen a female football player before.

Okay. I know my bag’s big, and I know it smells, and I know when the T pulls into Park Street, the jersey-clad, half-crunked Red Sox fans are not going to part like the Red Sea. But every practice night, every game day, it’s the same ritual once they notice the insignia: Boston Militia Women’s Football. Stares. Whispers. Fingers pointing. Feet shuffling. General anxiety and confusion. And when there are two of us, well, that’s just too much to handle. Even small children cry.

Before the corpse-sized bag, I carried my helmet and shoulder pads in one hand, my cleats in the other. Somehow, that warranted less stares, whispers, pointing and shuffling. Mostly because those jersey-clad, half-crunked Red Sox fans seemed to think I played lacrosse. Without a stick. But a female lacrosse player, that’s believable. Female football players? They’re myths, like unicorns, and Bigfoot. Read More »

In the aftermath of the Eliot Spitzer scandal, the New York Times ran an article about how rare true monogamy appears in nature. Fair enough; most of us wouldn’t argue with that. What was appalling was the way the article seemed to justify sleeping around and paying for sex, based on the premise that “everybody else is doing it.”

I think the theory has several holes in it, both scientific and moral.

One of the article’s arguments was centered on the findings of paternity tests given to animals: Evidently, even animals that supposedly mate for life have been found to be unfaithful. How do scientists know this? Because paternity tests show the children in the nest don’t always belong to the male.

The biggest flaw I see in this argument is that it says nothing about having followed the animals around for several months prior to the paternity test. If you are going to accuse a female of sleeping around, you have to have some proof other than a failed paternity test, right? I mean, if promiscuity can exist in nature, then what’s to say rape isn’t a possibility as well?

The article also argues that certain species have mating rituals equivalent to paying for sex. It then goes on to cite a type of male bird that gives females (other than his mate) treats, apparently in the hopes of getting laid: The bigger his offering, the more likely he’ll get some. Another example was macaque (a type of primate) culture: Although all macaques groom one another, it was once again assumed that the males are looking for sex, whereas the females are doing it for social and maternal reasons. Read More »

It remains a vivid memory in my mind — the moment I learned about masturbation. I was 11, sitting in the backseat of our minivan on the way home from my grandparents house.

It was dark out and I was using my booklight to read my newest purchase “Letters to Judy Blume.” It was the moment I finally understood that these shameful feelings, these urges, well they weren’t bad at all. I kept looking at the reflection in the mirror, thinking someone could tell what I had discovered.

There were a lot of things I wouldn’t have learned without Judy Blume: that young girls sometimes explore each other, that masturbation is normal, that getting your period is something worth praying for and that sex between young lovers doesn’t always end with horrible consequences.

So why, WHY are people still trying to censor the women that taught our generation so much? Why are people so skeptical of letting their children learn about menstruation, masturbation and sex from books? Read More »

This week, TLC aired the season finale of L.A. Ink, Kat Von D’s spin-off of the wildly popular Miami Ink. Just like it had all season, it was full of tons of talent, a little bit of drama, and some really, really amazing tattoos.

Ever since she hit our screens in Miami Ink, Kat’s been wowing us with her portrait work, and now that she’s enlisted her incredibly gifted friends to help her in her own shop, we’ve been treated to some of the best ink there is to offer. Read More »